Lots of Hits and Misses
by breeeliss
Summary: A collection of short A:TLA drabbles for the Battleship challenge on the A:tLAFC forum. Ratings, characters, and pairings will vary. Current prompt: big.
1. Crawling Through Mazes (Toph)

**Series: **Lots of Hits and Misses

**a/n:** Drabbles written for the Battleship contest over at the A:tLAFC. Participants guess spots on the Battleship field, but every time you miss, you have to write a drabble before you can guess again. So because I suck at battleship, expect this to be cluttered with a lot of them. For now, there's no structure to this seeing as how I'll never know what prompt I'm going to get next. For now, this is just a holding place for a lot of random one-shots.

Oh, and as a personal exercise, I'm gonna try and keep these between 500 and 1000 words. Let's see how I do.

**OOO**

**Drabble Title: **_Crawling Through Mazes_

**Prompt: **_Toph gets lost and meets the badgermoles._

**Characters/Pairings: **_young!Toph/No Pairings_

**Words: **_837_

**OOO**

It was very easy to lose your way in these caves. Toph started learning that each and every time she tippy toed out of her house when her mom and dad were being mean and were telling her that she couldn't do things that she wanted to do.

They wouldn't let her explore the town at the base of their lofty hill. They wouldn't let her run around in the gardens by herself. They wouldn't even let her brush her teeth by herself. It wasn't fair. They wouldn't listen to a word she said even though she was seven and was already a big enough girl for people to take seriously. So Toph hid in the caves so that she didn't have to listen to their stupid voices.

But the problem was that the caves were really big, and there were always different places for her to go. Sometimes she went left instead of right. Sometimes she kept going straight instead of turning around and going back the way she came. On the days when she was really mad, like today, she always lost track of where she was going and felt herself getting lost. The more Toph kept traversing the twisting tunnels, the less and less the prospect of being lost bothered her.

Initially, it was scary because she couldn't see anything and didn't know how she was going to get back. But now, she knew to just sit down on the stone floors and wait for them.

Toph was Earthbending a rock against the wall across from here when she heard crumbling rocks in the distance. She pressed her small hands into the floor and tried see if she could actually _feel_ the crumbling rocks. She could feel the ground rumbling, that was for sure. She could also sorta-kinda-maybe tell how far away her friend was. Things were still a really fuzzy. But she guessed that was okay. Her tutor always said that you couldn't learn how to do things well if you didn't keep practicing them over and over again. He was talking about her singing lessons, but Toph was pretty sure it applied to Earthbending too.

The rumbling got closer and Toph could already recognize the sounds of claws running along the stone floors. A wet nose nuzzled her cheek, and Toph immediately smiled and brought her arms up to hug the muzzle of the huge Badgermole in front of her.

"Big Guy! You found me. That was quick," she told him excitedly.

The Badgermole sniffed her side before he nudged her hip a couple of times. That was always code for her to stand up and follow him. "Yeah, sorry, Big Guy," Toph shrugged. "I kinda got lost again. Mom and Dad were being big dumb faces today. They got me so mad I forgot where I was going." Her large friend nuzzled her side again, this one less insistent than the one before, as if he felt her anger and was trying to comfort her. That's what Toph liked about her Badgermole friends. They were very perceptive. They always knew when Toph was angry or upset. Plus, they always knew how to get her back home.

Of course, teatime wasn't for a long, long time. Toph had time to practice her bending just a little bit.

"Do you think we can try to find that big rock again?" Toph asked the Badgermole in front of her. "Small Paws and I found it the other day, but we were both too teeny to move it. But you can, Big Guy! You're gigantic!"

Toph would never know if her friends could understand her—animals didn't talk like people could—but the Badgermole seemed like he wanted to go deeper into the caves as well. He tapped the ground next to him with his nose, a gesture that meant he wanted Toph to move next to him. Toph smiled when she actually felt the tap with her feet. It was weird to see the way the Badgermoles saw. They all couldn't see like normal people could. She knew for sure, because she asked her nanny about it, and her nanny knew _everything_. But it was exciting too. She could finally tell where things were.

She crawled on her hands and knees next to the Badgermole. She was mirroring her friend's position as she kept her hands in front of her and her nose close to the ground. "Okay, Big Guy. I'm ready. Let's go find that boulder! Then we can go home."

The animal made a little snuffling noise that Toph thought sounded like a "yes." The Badgermole started crawling through the caves as he shoved rocks that were in his way towards the walls on either side. Toph, like the good student that she was, did the exact same thing with her Earthbending. She smiled at the feeling again. This was so much more fun that sitting and practicing her flute all day.

She could afford to stay "lost" a little bit longer.


	2. Starting off Fresh (Jet, Zuko)

**a/n: **_I told you I suck at Battleship XP_

**OOO**

**Drabble Title: **_Starting off Fresh_

**Prompt: **_Write something about Jet. _

**Characters/Pairings: **_Jet, Zuko / No pairings_

**Words: **_991_

**OOO**

Jet didn't have a lot of positive memories to look back on.

Maybe this was a depressing reality for someone as young as him—ignoring the fact that some days he felt old and tired—but it was true that his life was filled with tragedy and regret, and it was difficult to make peace with that.

That's what he thought he created the Freedom Fighters for. So that other kids and teenagers like him—with too much hate and regret in their hearts—could come together and take care of each other. Many of the Freedom Fighters were orphans or had nowhere else to go. That fashioned community, no matter how haphazard it was, saved more lives than Jet initially realized.

It wasn't until he was frozen to a tree, seconds away from drowning an entire village, that he realized he had forgotten about the lives he promised to save.

It was why Ba Sing Se made _sense_. It was the only safe haven the Earth Kingdom had left: a symbol amidst all the ubiquitous rot the damn Fire Nation had created. It was the closest thing to a fresh start that he could get a hold of. The novelty of the city, the people, the walls, the activity—it made him want to be novel, too. Changing himself for the better was all he had left to do.

It was why he was so drawn to Lee.

The man had pain and struggle literally written across half his face. But he was a refugee like Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee were. He was headed for Ba Sing Se as well. Fresh starts. That's all anyone these days ever wanted. Maybe Jet was caught up on trying to reverse his wrongdoing, or maybe he was really just distracted over how much _fun_ stealing the captain's food for those refugees was But Jet wanted to ask Lee to join their group, and he wanted Lee to say yes. No. More than that.

He _expected_ Lee to say yes.

Instead, he didn't even see Lee's eyes light up in interest. "Thanks, but I don't think you want me in your gang."

"Come on," Jet implored. "We made a great team looting that captain's food. Think of all the good we could do for these refugees."

Lee exuded so much indifference. He actually turned away when he answered again. "I said no."

Jet should have just left it at that. Lee was a puzzle: stoic, tortured, and looking like a lifetime's worth of resentment was just waiting to pour out of him. Jet couldn't bother to puzzle out Lee's reasons for saying no. Perhaps it was useless to try, and it would have been understandable for him to walk away.

But Lee's scar always got Jet thinking. How did he get it? Did the old man he was traveling with help him take care of it? Where was his mother? His siblings? Where was he going? He didn't sound like he had a plan. He sounded pretty damn hopeless, like there were either too many paths for him to choose from or not enough. Jet was serious about his decree to help the refugees around him, and maybe that's why he felt so invested in trying to help Lee get on a path that made sense to him—a path that mattered to him.

Maybe it was also because it took years for Jet to figure that out for himself.

"We both have nothing," Jet called to his back. "Hell, we're _all_ just trying to build up from nothing. That's hard to do, Lee. It's even harder to do alone."

Jet was expecting a reaction, but it wasn't laughter. Lee was shaking his head and chuckling bitterly like someone had just told him a ridiculous joke. Lee turned, offering his scarred profile.

"I don't have anything to build with," Lee croaked in a voice that sounded like it was something broken that was then crudely pieced back together. "You have nothing now, but you do have a future. I don't even have that." He paused, and his scarred eye blinked three times. "Like I said. You don't want me hanging around."

Perhaps it was rude and assumptive, but Jet wasn't haunted by pity. Nothing that Lee said was inspiring the feeling. Jet just felt like shaking him so that he would just be able to see. "If I didn't want you to join us, I wouldn't have asked," he answered honestly. "I had—I _have_ a good feeling about you. You're noble. You're humble. I know you like helping. We could help each other."

Maybe that was the rub of it all. He valued Longshot and Smellerbee. They were the only Freedom Fighters who hadn't abandoned him. But maybe along with a fresh start, he also wanted a new friend. Someone different that could help him make sense of a world that the three remaining Freedom Fighters couldn't see. "Power in numbers" had never felt so applicable before. Adding Lee might help Jet get an even better handle on life. It might help keep Jet on the straight and narrow. It might help Jet to continue to help instead of to continue to hate.

Plus, the most powerful reason was that they had both been hurt by a nation that had wronged them. Surely the two of them could offer something to the other.

Lee turned his entire face towards Jet, and for the first time, spoke to Jet in a manner that was almost uncomfortably direct and honest.

"Don't call me noble," Lee asked, as if it were simply a friendly request. "If you knew who I was and what I've done…you'd hate me for sure." With that, he walked away, and this time Jet didn't stop him. He didn't dare.

Lee sounded too serious, and Jet didn't think he wanted to stick around to see if Lee turned out to be right.


	3. Childish Bickering (Gaang)

**Drabble Title:** _Childish Bickering_

**Prompt: **_big_

**Characters: **_The Gaang (i.e. Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, etc.) / No pairings_

**Words: **_991_

**OOO**

Zuko didn't need any continued incentive in order to remain with the Avatar's group. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with the decision he had made, but despite the awkwardness he still felt around the group and Katara's constant glares and silent threats, he knew that this was where he belonged.

But sometimes, he tended to forget that this group was mostly made up of _children_, both in age and in behavior. He tried not to act above it all for the sake of keeping peace, but some days dealing with the younger generation was borderline intolerable.

"ZUKO!"

The Firebender didn't have time to take the first bite of his lunch before Toph and Aang came sprinting into the main courtyard, panting with the exertion and still covered in the sweat and dirt that no doubt resulted from their Earthbending lesson that should have just ended.

Katara tutted at them in that typical motherly way she tended to handle everyone. "You're both late. I already served everyone else. You're gonna be stuck with the leftovers again."

Aang looked horrified for a split second, but his face returned to its original facade of annoyance when Toph waved away Katara's comment. "Look, whatever, I'm trying to prove Twinkle Toes wrong here."

"Prove _me_ wrong?" Aang echoed, looking scandalized. "You're senile. I'm right! You're just too stubborn to admit it."

"Okay, I think I have a better sense of this than you do. I mean, I can _see_ better than you can," Toph assured with an eye roll.

"Your Earthbending has nothing to do with this," Aang insisted. "Besides, I can see too. So trust me when I say that I _know_ I'm right."

"Spirits, Twinkles, just admit it. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"You're the one who's acting ashamed! I don't even know why this is an argument. Everyone else can see that it's obvious!"

"_Obvious!?_ Are you trying to tell me something you jerk?"

"I'm just speaking the truth, unlike _some_ people who have to lie in order to make themselves look good."

"You are so freaking _dead—!"_

Zuko felt his migraine coming already so he decided to nip this silly little argument in the bud and take on his unspoken authority as the oldest—and apparently the only mature—member of the group. "You two needed me for something?" he yelled over them.

Toph halted the fist that she looked about ready to land straight into Aang's gut, but she stopped, smirked, and pointed to Zuko. "We need you to tell us which one of us is bigger."

Zuko raised a brow. "Bigger?"

Aang nodded enthusiastically and then sent a sly glare to Toph out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah. Apparently Toph thinks that she has authority over me because she's bigger than me, but I've _always_ been bigger than her. You're easily the smallest person in this group."

"I've _grown_ you idiot!" Toph argued. "My pants aren't dragging on the floor anymore. They're above my ankles. I've gotten taller!"

"Not taller than me. Besides I've grown too. So that doesn't even matter."

"I've definitely grown more than you. I'm telling you. I can see how tall we both are."

"Then you're either lying or cheating because there's no way that you're telling that you're actually—"

"Okay!" Zuko announced, holding his hands up in the air and ending the argument. He breathed a sigh of relief when he noted that they actually listened to him and stopped yelling, but already the desire to rub at his temples and just get away from all the excitement was starting to become stronger. Oh well. There was one very easy solution to all this. "Alright. Stand back to back."

Katara looked annoyed, and was sending all of her anger in Zuko's direction—surprise, surprise. "Look, this can wait. You're disrupting lunch and the two of them need to eat."

"Shut it, Sweetness, this is important," Toph shushed, turning around so that her back was pressed against Aang's. "We'll eat in a second."

Zuko couldn't help but chuckle quietly at the affronted look on Katara's face as a result of Toph's outburst, but he decided that he should hurry and solve this debate before the Waterbender found another reason to bite his head off.

"Alright," Zuko sighed. "Stand up straight, and don't move. Toph, stop standing on your toes, that's cheating. Aang, bring your chin down, that's cheating too. And would the two of you _stop_ poking each other and let me look?"

The two stopped their fidgeting and Zuko placed one hand on top of each other their heads. Zuko leaned down so that he was looking at his hands at eye level, trying to make it seem like he was taking this more seriously than he was so that neither of them could complain about it to him later.

"Alright, so it seems like Toph is a hair's breadth taller," Zuko announced.

Toph turned her head towards Aang. "HA! In your face!"

Zuko held up a finger and pointed it towards Toph's head. "However, that's taking into account Toph's bun. Ignoring that, Aang is about two inches taller."

Aang turned around completely and pumped a fist in the air. "HA! In _your_ face!"

"Shut up!" Toph spat. "He just said I'm taller."

"No, I'm taller. You're hair doesn't count!"

"Yes it does!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes it _does!_"

Their arguing kept on going in front of Zuko, and he personally couldn't be bothered to try and mediate the affair. He sat back down, picked up his bowl of food, and tried to continue his meal in relative peace. However, he couldn't help but comment aloud, "Are they always like this?"

Sokka shrugged and placed a comforting hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Unfortunately. Plus, you're family now. You're gonna have to be breaking these fights up a lot."

Zuko scowled. Well that was just great.


End file.
